Chapter 3 Bound by Her Fright

[Elena's POV]

"I already know your talent, and Dr. Micheal recommended you here, so I think you're the right choice for our hospital," he stated, staring at the laptop screen. Phew!! At least he remembered me. I let out a deep sigh. Another 5 minutes passed with no words.

"I think it is advisable to start with the first question right away. Is there anything specific you want from me regarding this?" He said, breaking the silence.

I paused for a second or two before deciding it was best to just move straight forward. "Yes, actually. Could you please provide me with a copy of the file you utilized for this case? I need to know about the patient's history first." I replied pleasantly again. He looked astonished for a second before nodding and smiling. He picked out white and blue files from beside his chair and handed them to me. After taking the file and beginning to skim through it, I set it aside. We spent around 20 minutes answering irrelevant questions concerning the case.

I saw he didn't seem concerned by my presence during the brief one-hour meeting. He appeared as controlled and composed as always. This is the attraction that draws me in. I was burning inside for vengeance. I'm not sure how I kept myself in control. I was faking a smile to get to the bottom of things. Before I take my revenge, I'd like to cleanse my mind. I'm not sure what he was asking, but after an hour, we had asked all of the important questions. I stood up from my seat after finishing this so-called interview or the start of my trial. He extended his arm to shake my hand, expressing gratitude. I took it with a heavy heart and left his office.

After arriving at my aunt's house via cab, I went straight to my room. Aunt was presumably doing something, while Noel and David were most likely sleeping due to their night shift. I placed my CV on the table, opened the patient's file I had brought with me, and began reading it. It was a stabbing case in which a husband repeatedly stabbed his wife below the stomach for stealing his money. But why? I asked myself. I mean how a wife took money that her husband earned for her, or how he wasn't providing enough for her to live on, so she stole it, and he became enraged and attempted to kill her.

I'm not sure why he offered me such a basic surgery case; perhaps it's simply because he didn't want to waste his so-called precious time on it, and he handed it to me so he could assess my skills and decide whether I was competent to work in his hospital.

In either case, I'll perform the surgery and treat her to complete my route. But right now, I'm very hungry and I'm craving pizza. My stomach is rumbling loudly in the background. It sounds like it's about to consume me completely. Before that, I need to take a shower because I just got out of the hospital. I went to the bathroom and had a shower; I didn't have the energy. However, I feel better after feeling the warm water on my skin. I wrapped the towel around my body and got out of it. I changed into my casual gray tee and purple sweatpants and walked right to the kitchen. I was starving, so I just grabbed whatever I saw in the fridge; I didn't have enough energy to create a plate of pizza for myself. That shower depleted my remaining energy.

I was standing in the kitchen, toasting bread with my favorite mango jam, when I heard David's voice. I was astonished and whirled around to confront him. I'm not sure when he came behind me or what he was doing here. It's time for him to sleep, right? I observed him standing shirtless, showing his six packs of tan skin and gray sweat sans slippers. His light blue eyes focused on my green eyes.

"What are you doing here, David?" I asked him to distract his focus. Instead, he was staring at me. His arms crossed over his chest, and his lips pouted as if he was pondering deeply about something. His hair was wet and unkempt, with a trace of sweat emanating from him. What an attractive man. I thought to myself as I looked into his eyes. In my perspective, he looks quite sexy.

"Giving you a treat for passing the job interview," he remarked with the sweetest smile on his face. But my stone heart will not fall for it. I turned my head down and resumed toasting my bread.

"Treat, why?" I inquired as I took a mouthful of my jambread sandwich.

"Michael called and told me that you got your job," he said, winking. "Finally you got that change in your life that you always yearned for."

I knew he was lying because Michael never phoned during his duty hours, and he had an arrogant attitude. Besides, I'm on trial, and I didn't get the opportunity for the interview, so Marcus will never lie to Michael. Obviously, he's here to flirt with me. Let us play along with his deception, I thought as I finished my final bite.

"So, ma'am, I'm at your service; tell me what you want to eat," he asked amusingly.

"Lasagna, fried chicken, risotto, and polenta with mango shake," I tell him, hiding my smile.

With a sly smile, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Darling, don't worry. It will be ready for dinner in three hours. Simply take a seat and start counting down." He went to the pantry and dug around for a while before gathering everything. I inhaled deeply before walking into the room. I never intended to help him in the kitchen. I never asked him in the first place. If he wants to impress me, you should strive hard, sweetheart. I took out the book again and began reading through the file with complete focus till I fell asleep. I'm not sure how many hours I slept. My eyes popped up as I saw a man's face was just above mine. I yelled.

In my fear, I tossed the file across the room and attempted to leap out of the sofa as far away from his body as possible - which was not very far - but I tumbled off and onto the floor. I turned to look up and saw David. What's he doing here? I placed my hand on my chest to calm my rushing heart. I just had a nightmare, and now this. It's too much for me to handle at one moment.

"Ahh! I'm sorry for scaring you, Miss Elena," He added, seeing my horrified expression. He offered his hand to me, which I grasped before rising from the floor and sitting on the sofa again. "I didn't mean to do this. I just came here to wake you up for dinner.